Entries in autonomous vehicles
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The idea of a world in which autonomous vehicles replace those piloted by humans scares some, excites others, and sends into paroxysms of joy those who wish to see an end to personal freedom. However, if we take things at face value, automakers are pursing this technology for a few reasons: 1) It is a viable avenue of development that will increase vehicle safety and convenience, 2) Autonomy’s promise of greater efficiency and safety will reduce the level of scrutiny automakers endure from government and non-government bureaucrats, and — most importantly — 3) It elevates car companies from Rust Belt white goods providers to tech companies more on par with those in Silicon Valley. A good bit of this last point is down to insecurity, though auto companies feel they have to revamp the industry’s smokestack image in order to attract the best and brightest. Plus, shareholder value — an incredibly lopsided but easy-to-quantify measure of a company’s overall health — demands it. Look no further than Tesla’s stratospheric per share price for the boardroom angst over stock prices and shareholder value.

The auto industry is headed into the abyss and doesn’t recognize it. Lost in its own echo chamber, the domestic and foreign manufacturers descended on Detroit for the latest iteration of the North American International Auto Show (Can we please officially shorten this to NAIAS Detroit?) declaring the inexorable triumph of automation, electrification and a switch from being automakers to mobility providers. The reality distortion field was turned up to 10, and breathlessly reported on by the assembled hacks as they cheered the oncoming onslaught of electric vehicles driven by artificially intelligent computers. These fawning hacks who normally worry about the number of frequent flier miles racked up as they traipse from city to city and country to country on the rolling dinner party that is the modern vehicle launch program, could not see the end of this gravy train embodied by these over-the-top concepts and ideas. Or did they willfully wish to ignore them as much as they ignore their own waning importance?

It was the same willful ignorance as shown by Ford as it breezily introduced the 2018 F-150 — the most important single vehicle in the company lineup, and the one whose profitability makes it possible for the rest of the lineup to exist — and ushered it off the stage in order to make space to talk about mobility.

It hasn’t taken long for the auto industry to grab on to the idea of autonomous vehicles with both hands, and treat this technology as the single most important advance since the Model T brought motoring to the masses. Hardly a day goes by without one automaker or another touting its drive to bring fully autonomous “Level 4” vehicles to market, as though this single act will establish that automaker as the technology leader, and give it an unassailable edge against the competition.

A recent survey conducted by Britain’s IAM RoadSmart — formerly the Institute of Advanced Motorists — paints a somewhat different picture of the current situation. In a survey conducted by Opinium for the organization, IAM RoadSmart randomly polled 1,000 British drivers about autonomous vehicles, and conducted a separate poll of its 92,000 members. If there is a headline for these surveys it is this: Both groups look forward to technology that improves vehicle safety, but — even though autonomous vehicles will be able to do it for them — a majority want to maintain control over their car.